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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27104440">Thanksgiving Blizzard (Part One)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/skymageariel/pseuds/skymageariel'>skymageariel</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>31 days of The Dragon Prince [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/M, Filler, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fun, Gen, Modern AU, Snow, snowstorm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:54:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,541</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27104440</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/skymageariel/pseuds/skymageariel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>On their way to Amaya’s and Janai’s for a thanksgiving dinner, Soren loses control of the van, stranding himself, Claudia, Rayla and Callum in a snowbank on the side of the highway.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rayllum (The Dragon Prince)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>31 days of The Dragon Prince [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946767</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Thanksgiving Blizzard (Part One)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“You didn’t take the exit!” Claudia yelled to Soren over the sound of hail hitting the roof of the car.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t think I know that?” He shouted back. “My phone’s been on the fritz since the storm hit, I have no idea where I’m going!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe we should pull over?” Callum suggested from the backseat, watching the road from out the window. “It looks really dangerous out there.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I bet if we take the next exit, there will be a hotel or something we could stop at?” Rayla suggested, sitting next to Callum. “It’s not safe to be driving anymore- we should stop somewhere!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I would, except I don’t know where to go!” Soren’s voice reached that level of volume that shook the whole car- his tell that he was really getting nervous. “I can barely see a foot in front of me, I’m going 40 in a 65-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not safe!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shut up, Callum, if I go any faster we’ll spin out of control!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, </span>
  <em>
    <span>that!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Callum pointed out his window, where a huge commercial box truck had overturned and was laying on its side. “Pull over, now!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine! Since everyone wants to backseat drive, let’s just do what you all think best! What should we do now?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“PULL OVER.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“FINE!” Soren yanked the wheel to the side a little too hard, punching on the hazards as the entire van slid into a snowbank on the side of the road. The hood of the car hit the bank with a </span>
  <em>
    <span>TWUMP! </span>
  </em>
  <span>as a mountain of snow fell and covered the front windshield. Wind outside howled, no sign of the snowstorm letting up any time soon. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Welp!” Claudia exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air in defeat. “I guess we’re missing Janai’s and Amaya’s thanksgiving dinner!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Which wouldn’t have been an issue if you hadn’t insisted we took the highway!” Rayla shouted from the back. “We could have taken a left on Maple Street and been there twenty minutes ago, but noooo, you had to take the highway!” She crossed her arms, falling back in the seat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know what? Maybe we should all stop arguing!” Callum said, trying to diffuse the situation. “We should try to figure out our next course of action. Soren, do you have anything to lighten the mood while we figure stuff out?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shouldn’t we call a tow truck?” Rayla muttered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shhh, It’s about the vibe,” he replied. “Soren?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uhh, I’ve got something here, but I don’t think anyone wants to hear it,” he said, rifling through the console, pushing away various CDs and random discs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Soren held up a disk labeled in sharpie. “Best Christmas Songs of 2008.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’ll work,” Callum answered, ignoring the collective groan from Rayla and Claudia. Soren pushed the CD into the player under the radio, making sure to play the first track on the disc. For a moment, the CD player just whirred. Then, an all too familiar chord erupted through the car.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I… don’t want a lot for Christmas… There is just one thing I need…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nope!” Claudia punched the button up front to stop the CD.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes!” Soren hit play.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t care about the presents-</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Underneath the christmas tree!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, I give up! I’m calling a tow truck.” She tried to open her door, but found that it wouldn’t budge. She pushed harder, but it didn’t move. A pile of snow and debris was blocking her way. “You have got to be kidding me. Soren, turn this junk off so I can hear the phone while I</span>
  <em>
    <span> call for help</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not junk! You apologize to Whitney Houston right now!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Claudia sighed. “Sorry, Whitney. Can you turn this off now so I can call a tow truck?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why can’t we just enjoy the moment!” As soon as Soren spoke, the car shut off. Everyone froze. “What just happened?” Rayla leaned forward, looking for the gas indicator by the speedometer. The dial was pointed to a big, bold </span>
  <b>E. </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Soren!” she scolded. “How long have we been driving on an empty tank!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The tank’s empty?” he asked. “How do you know? I always just guessed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You are insufferable.” Rayla fell back into her seat, arms returning to an angry cross. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“At least now, we can make some phone calls,” Callum offered. “Claudia, if you call a tow company, I’ll call Janai, let her know what’s happening.” He pulled out his phone and immediately frowned. “Or maybe not. I’ve got no service.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I bet the storm has the cell towers down,” Claudia groaned, pocketing her own phone. “What are we gonna do now?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Take a nap and hope we don’t freeze to death,” Rayla grumbed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Or!” Soren piped up. “I think I have a game of Monopoly in the trunk?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” chorused the rest of the group. They’d played enough games of Monopoly to know that it would not end well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How about Uno?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No.” Same deal with Monopoly- never ended well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, well if you all aren’t going to accept my offers to make this terrible ordeal a little bit better, then I guess you just won’t hear from me the rest of the night.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good,” Claudia groaned. “Didn’t wanna hear from you anyway.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Clauds- come on,” Callum sighed. He looked out the window, watching the sparse traffic as it passed. “It seems like the snow is letting up, and according to the sign up there, there’s a gas station a half-mile ahead. What if a pair of us walked to it? Get some snacks and such, call a tow truck-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Callum, that is one of the worst ideas you have ever had,” Rayla said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You say that every time, but my ideas always end up working!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but the idea where you trek half a mile through a snowstorm on the side of the highway? It’s like you're asking to either freeze or get hit by a car.” Rayla told him. “In almost any other circumstance I’d tell you to go for it, but it’s too dangerous.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, so is just sitting here, doing nothing,” he reasoned. “We’ll stay here until the storm lets up, but by then we’ll be popsicles.” He pulled his winter coat up from the floor, pulling his arms into the sleeves. “This is the one shot we have at getting back on the road. I’m going.” His hand reached the door handle, ready to push open the van door. Rayla grabbed the fabric of his coat sleeve, stopping him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know you want to get to your family’s dinner, but it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>just not safe,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Rayla told him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s right,” Claudia piped up. “I’d rather play Uno than let you leave in a storm like this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So we’re playing Uno!” Soren smiled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” they all said in unison. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>— </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Half an hour passed before the heat in the van started to dwindle. Soren and Claudia were getting especially restless, constantly bickering about the storm around them, about when school was starting back up, about what they’d be getting for Christmas. They were siblings. If it existed, they fought about it. Rayla busied herself with playing Candy Crush on her phone like a 2012 loser, but Callum refrained from saying that out loud. She was already in a bad mood- better not to push it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Callum spent his time drawing in his sketchbook. He drew Ezran and Amaya, smiling as they sat at the fireplace in the living room of Janai house. He almost pictured Janai behind the scene, a plate of marshmallows and sticks for them to make s’mores inside. Looking at the drawing before him, Callum could almost feel the warmth of the fireplace wrap around his arms. He checked the time- 7:00. They were an hour late. He knew Ezran would be worried- he wished there was a way to let him know that everything was okay. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After another twenty minutes, Rayla had fallen asleep on Callum’s shoulder. In the front, Claudia was reading the car’s insurance papers out of boredom, while Soren played Minecraft on his phone. Every time he found diamonds, he’d pump his fist in the air. They were slowly starting to go insane. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a moment of eerily serene silence, Callum felt a buzz come from his phone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Hey! Dinner’s starting soon- where are you guys?</span>
  </em>
  <span> read the text from Amaya. It had been sent an hour ago. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>We’re stuck in the snow storm, stranded just past Exit 54,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he texted back, hoping his very weak singular bar of service would be enough to get the text through. It was not. The message came right back with a little red exclamation point indicating the error. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is stupid,” he muttered to himself though no one else heard. The sound in the car was muffled by the pressure outside, causing everything to sound and feel muted. This was not a good sign. If they didn’t find help soon, they could all get really sick. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In one, last ditch effort attempt, Callum dialed 911 into his phone, only to get an error message to play back to him. The phone lines were down. There was no way out of this mess. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Unless he walked to the gas station, just half a mile ahead. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>again, sorry it’s a bit shorter. i promise i have some longer stuff on the way! i hope you enjoyed this for what it was lmao</p></blockquote></div></div>
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